


Botched Blind Dates

by RoyalRampionEngineer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, AU no miraculouses, Adrien agrees to act in it, Aged Up, And acts like a fool, Bad dates, F/M, Fluff fluff and more fluff, Miraculous Ladybug Big Bang 2k17, Nino directs a YouTube Series, Very very minor violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-08 07:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyalRampionEngineer/pseuds/RoyalRampionEngineer
Summary: Adrien volunteers to be an actor on Nino’s new youtube series, Botched Blind Date. If a person want to get revenge on his or her friend for a blind date gone wrong, or just as a funny prank, Adrien will play the worst date ever for that person. Despite being yelled at, punched, and almost killed, Adrien finds himself enjoying acting on the show, especially when he can sneak in some flirting with the cute waitress at the bakery where the show takes place.





	1. Marinette

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“Nino,” Adrien looked at his friend. “What am I wearing?” 

Nino glanced up from his computer, where feeds from several different video cameras were displayed. He snorted, “The woman you have to be the worst date for is into fashion and design. The friend pranking her requested you wear something horrific.”

Adrien glanced down at himself. “I’d say this suit makes the cut. The lime green color is pretty cool, but on a formal suit...not so much.”

“Don’t forget about the orange and brown plaid bow-tie.”

“Ah yes,” Adrien grimaced, pulling it out of his pocket. “Is it really necessary?”

“Absolutely.” Nino grinned at his friend. “It came in the package with the suit. Gotta love 1970s Halloween costumes, am I right?” 

“Except when I have to go on a date wearing them.” Adrien shifted, sticking the clip-on bow-tie in its proper place. “Nino, is this really happening?”

Nino came and patted Adrien’s back. “Yes, yes it is. Are you prepared to be the next greatest star to ever grace the YouTube screen?” Adrien gulped. “Bro.” Nino turned to face him. “You’ve been a supermodel. I’m pretty sure you can handle being part of my amateur not-even-on-TV show.” Nino then handed him a small black circle. “Anyway, I’ll be talking to you the entire time, so if you ever get stuck or nervous, I’ll be right there in your ear, telling you what to do.”

Adrien nodded as he stuck the earpiece in his ear. “And why did I agree to do this again?”

“Eternal love from your best bro? And free pastries from the restaurants we film at?”

Adrien snorted. “The second one. Definitely the second one.”

Nino rolled his eyes and checked his tablet again, where a checklist was displayed. “Okay remember, be a total fashion disaster. This is the first and last time I’ll ever say this to you, but use as many puns as possible. Make all of them cheesy.”

Adrien raised both of his hands up to do a thumbs-up sign. “You got it. Let the punning begin!”

Nino raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, wait until she gets here, please do not start before. For all of our sakes. And by that, I mean my sake. And oh,” Nino glanced at his phone. “Her friend texted that she’s close to arriving. You better head out to the table.”

“Okay,” Adrien said, adjusting his bow-tie and earpiece one more time. “Don’t I just look lime I’m ready for a good time?”

“Yeah, you’re prepared for the date,” Nino groaned as he ushered Adrien out of the door. 

Adrien resisted the urge to adjust his bow tie one more time before going out onto the official filming area. He nodded to the waitress at the cafe counter, before grabbing two coffees and settling down at the table in the center of the cafe, as Nino instructed. He wasn’t even sure how Nino had managed to get the cafe to agree to this show in the first place, but Adrien wasn’t complaining. The coffee was pretty good, but he would save his final opinion on the place till after dessert.

Only a few minutes passed before the doorbell rang, and Adrien looked up to see the first episode’s target. Hair up in a messy bun, adorable pink polka-dotted and grey dress, and with the matching shoes she hit that perfect adorably gorgeous look that made Adrien’s knees weak.

He resisted the urge to curse at Nino, but instead stood up, offering his hand to the beautiful woman.

“Hello, I’m Adrien.” He leaned down and kissed her knuckles. “You must be Marinette, Alya’s friend?”

“Err, yeah!” Her eyes were wide, darting all over his ugly green suit. “N-nice to meet you!”

“It’s lovely to meet you as well. I’ve got us a table in the corner, if you want to sit?” Adrien said, when what he really wanted to do was tell Nino that nope, this girl was pretty, mission should be aborted immediately. Unfortunately, no such thing happened. Marinette nodded, and the two sat. Adrien cleared his throat. 

“That’s a very pretty dress you’re wearing.”

“Oh, this?” Marinette looked down, tugging on the end of it. “Thanks, I just made it this past weekend.”

Adrien choked on the water he was drinking. “You-you made that! It’s amazing!”

“Thanks,” Marinette blushed, looking down at the table. “Your suit is a very interesting color.”

“Thank you! I thought it was very lime-tastic, if you citrus what I’m saying.” 

Marinette stared at him for several seconds, her eyes wide.

“What, are you not a fan of the punning arts?” he asked.

“I-” Marinette looked off to the side, staring out the window. “They’re not my most favorite form of word play.”

“Well,” Adrien said. “By the end of the date, I will personally make sure you are the second biggest fan of puns, me being the first, of course.” He winked at her. Except, of course, Adrien couldn’t really wink, so he ended up with more of an alarming eye twitch than anything. However, Marinette seemed too focused on his punning to really notice. He punned again to distract her even more.

Marinette just let out a tiny sigh.  
…

“Lime green!” Marinette hissed into her phone. “Alya, the guy you set me up with is wearing a lime green suit!” She scowled, leaning up against the bathroom’s sink counter as Alya laughed. 

“Hey, I never told you he had a good fashion sense. Just that he was hot.”

“But this is just ridiculous Al. Where did he even find such a fashion disaster? The 70s?”

Alya snorted. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Oh, it is. And did you know he puns? Because he does. A lot. And he laughs at himself like he thinks it’s funny. I mean, sure, some are kinda good, but there’s a limit on the amount someone can pun. This guy’s way beyond that line. There is a reason I am interrupting my date to send you an SOS call from the bathroom.” 

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you ignored my statement about him being hot. Because he totally is, right? I swore when I saw him at the office that he was your type.”

Marinette gave a little sniff. “I haven’t been able to admire his looks because of the awful green suit.”

“So you admit he has looks?”

“Maybe...” Marinette groaned.

“There has to be a reason you haven’t walked out on him yet.”

“Maybe I feel bad for him. Any guy who shows up to a first date in a green suit hasn’t dated in quite some time. Plus, he thought puns were the way to flirt with me. Seriously. And don’t even get me started on his winking. That boy could use some lessons.”

“Well, you can still give him a chance for me, right? Remember, I’ll have to face him at work every day after this. Just try and finish the date, for your best friend?”

“...Fine,” Marinette sighed, running a hand down her face. “I’ll hang up now and see what puns he thought of in the time I was gone. I blame you for my misery.”

“Love you too Mari!” Alya laughed as Marinette hung up, shoving her phone in her purse and muttering curses as she pushed open the bathroom door.

…

As soon as Adrien saw Marinette coming out of the bathroom, he dropped his voice to a whisper and clutched the phone to his ear. 

“Nino, once again, you owe me big time. It’s bad enough I’m wearing this ridiculous outfit, as she made the dress she’s wearing! I have to annoy her, but she’s actually cute! Like really cute! I was not prepared for this!”

“Dude, chill, you’ve only got ten more minutes left on the date.”

“Nino, I don’t think you understand the severity of the situation.”

“You’ve already fallen in love, haven’t you?”

“Maybe!” Adrien whispered into the phone, watching Marinette get closer and closer.

Nino just laughed. “Dude, of course you did. I knew I should have hired someone who wasn’t such a hopeless romantic. I’m going to have to hear you spew poetry about every single girl you fake date on this show, aren’t I?”

“Shh, I’ll just write a song or something. Shoot, she’s almost back gotta go bye.” Adrien ended the call, stuffing the phone beneath his leg. 

“Welcome back, my lovely lady. I hope the bathroom was all right, because you’re looking a bit...flushed.”

Marinette just raised her eyebrow. “You’ve stooped to toilet puns now?”

“C’mon, they’re not that towel-able.”

Marinette looked toward the door, and Adrien held his breath, waiting to see if she would leave. But she sat down with a resigned huff, and Adrien released his own tiny breath. How in the universe was he supposed to survive ten minutes without telling this girl he loved her? He was on the verge of a breakdown! Nino really owed him some pastries now. He jerked his head up when Marinette started speaking to him again.

“So,” Marinette twirled her straw around her glass of ice water. “What do you actually do for a living? Besides being a professional punner?”

“I’m glad to know you recognize and appreciate my talent,” Adrien winked at her. Or at least tried. He still hadn’t mastered the whole winking thing yet. He was about to tell her his actual profession, when Nino stepped in. 

“Dude, tell her you work in a department store.”

Adrien sighed. “Yeah, I actually work at a department store a few blocks from my house.”

Marinette raised her eyebrows. “Really? What do you do for the department store?”

“Oh, I--” Adrien was about to say he worked in finances, when Nino spoke in his ear. He tried not to grimace as he addressed Marinette again. “I work in inventory. Cataloging the new clothes and items that come in, help decide which ones go on sale, that sort of thing.” Adrien shifted in his seat, putting his right foot on the opposite knee. “It’s actually a really good gig. Sometimes I sneak clearance items home with me. Like this gem of a suit. Can you believe no one wanted it?”

“Not at all,” Marinette muttered, quickly taking a sip from her drink. 

“I mean, don’t you just lime it?”

“I have no words for what I feel about that outfit.”

“Isn’t it making you green with envy?”

“Uhhh, haha, sure!”

“Hey,” Nino spoke in Adrien’s ear. “Dude, you’re almost out of time. Step it up and insult her clothes.”

Adrien was about to tell Nino absolutely not, because this was his future wife he was talking about, and Adrien was pretty sure that was not something that would get him a second date, much less a wedding. Unfortunately, Nino’s main care was the show, not Adrien’s love life. And Adrien did sign a contract saying he would follow Nino’s directions. Adrien shifted his foot, then straightened up, preparing for the worst. Granted, it was written on a bar napkin with sharpie, but a contract nonetheless.

“You know, I don’t think you have much say in the matter of how my suit looks. I mean, look at what you’re wearing.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open. Adrien cringed. “Sorry, I-” Adrien looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Say stupid stuff sometimes?”

Marinette scoffed, and Adrien was sure she was going to leave right then and there. But instead she put her elbows on the table, staring him straight in the eye. “Are you a fashion icon?”

“No,” Adrien said. Well, his father was, but that was best kept quiet. 

“Then you have no right to judge anyone else’s fashion sense.” She eyed his suit. “Even if that may be difficult.”

“Okay,” Adrien nodded. “Thanks, got it.” In his mind, he whispered, “You’re amazing.”

In his ear, Nino applauded. “That girl is too good for you. Time’s up, make your exit. I’m heading out to the front now.”

“Well,” Adrien stretched his hands above his head. “Looks like I should get going.” He pointed at the stack of little condiments sitting on the end of the cafe table. “I really relished my time with you.”

“Yeah, that was an experience.” Marinette stood up, grabbing her purse and shaking Adrien’s proffered hand. He waited to exit until Marinette was officially out of the cafe, then he ran outside, to see Nino holding up a camera to a very startled Marinette. 

“--so yeah, thanks for being an awesome participant on my new YouTube show, Botched Blind Date. You can thank your pal Alya for volunteering you to be on the show. I was told to tell you that this was payback for all the awkward double dates you made her go on in college. Although, from what I remember of you two in school, you probably didn’t deserve this, so sorry.”

Marinette groaned, putting her red face in her hands. She grumbled, “The dates weren’t that awkward,” and looked up, only to see Adrien exiting the cafe. “Wait, so you were just acting? And aren’t actually Alya’s coworker?”

“Yeah,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning red. “Listen, about those things I said, none of them were true. Nino made me say them.”

Nino let out a loud laugh. “You signed up for it dude. But anyway, Marinette, you do gain something from going on this horrible date other than an enduring eternal hatred of puns. You get--”

“The chance to go on an actual date with me?“ Adrien spoke without thinking. He immediately clamped a hand over his mouth once the words were out. The other two stared at him. “Um, that is, if you would like to? There’s no pressure, I just thought you’re really amazing, and I might as well ask? Or you could just get the bolt of fabric Nino was going to give you anyway, if you don’t want to date me, that’s cool too haha.”

“Oh,” Marinette looked down at her shoes, twisting her hands together. “That’s really nice of you, but my life’s really busy. I probably shouldn’t even date, I only agreed to this one as a favor to Alya.” Marinette met Adrien’s eyes. “But that’s really sweet of you.”

“Oh, okay.” Adrien nodded, the smile leaving his face.

“But!” Marinette straightened up. “Maybe you could stop by my parents’ bakery sometime? They’re halfway retired, so I run the bakery most of the time. I-it would be nice to see you again, and the bakery is a lot better than this cafe. If you thought this was good, you’ll be amazed at the quality at the Dupain-Cheng bakery.”

Adrien nodded, a smile starting. “Croissant my heart I’ll come.”

Marinette let out a giggle, and Adrien felt his heart swell. 

Dang. Nino was right.

He did fall in love on the first date.

…

It took two days for Adrien and Nino to find themselves at the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Nino sighed at his friend’s enthusiasm. He should have known the temptation of baked goods and a cute girl was too much for his friend to handle. And boy, was it showing, if Adrien’s nervous jittering was anything to go by. 

“Hi Marinette,” the two waved at the woman behind the counter as they entered. 

She opened her mouth and blinked, then waved back choppily. “Nino! A-Adrien! Welcome!”

“Woah,” Adrien said, staring at all of the baked goods. “They all look amazing! What do you recommend?”

“Um, the chocolate croissants?”

“Perfect. I’ll take ten.”

“He’ll take three,” Nino corrected, placing several bills on the counter. “And I’ll take an eclair.”

Marinette nodded, then rang them up, “So, how’s the show going? When are the episodes going to be aired?”

“In a few weeks,” Nino replied. “I want to get a few more episodes filmed before I post the first one, plus I’ve got to do editing for all of them.”

“Oh, well, let me know. I’d love to see what famousness my former classmate will get up to.” Marinette smiled at Nino. “You still have Alya’s number, right? Just text her whenever they come out, and she can tell me.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Nino said, thanking her as she handed them their food. “Well, it looks like you’re keeping busy,” Nino stated, gesturing to the long line behind them. “We won’t bother you anymore.”

Marinette laughed, “You’re no bother, really. It’s always great to see old classmates and their friends. Enjoy you two.” As she pointed them towards a table, she placed another croissant in Adrien’s hand, her cheeks pink. “On the house.”

“Thanks,” he said breathlessly, not even protesting when Nino moved them to the table. “Marinette was right,” Adrien said around a mouthful of croissant. “These are so much better than the ones at the other cafe. You should host the show here instead.”

Nino’s eyebrows drew together. “You just want a solid excuse to see Marinette.”

“Maybe, but you’ve gotta admit, it’s not a bad idea. The bakery’s pretty for the background, you won’t have to explain the show to the waitresses every time you film, and you owe me not just decent food, but amazing food. Ask for a favor from an old classmate?”

“That’s actually not a horrible idea. And as of right now, I don’t have the second episode’s filming location set up yet. I could ask Marinette to do the next one, and if it works well and her family agrees, we could film it here.”

“You’re welcome for the brilliant idea,” Adrien grinned, finishing off his second croissant. “Does it earn me another chocolate croissant?”

“Let’s see,” Nino stated, getting up from the counter and approaching Marinette. “Hey Marinette, can I ask you something?”

“What is it Nino?” Marinette turned to him as she handed the last customer her order.

“Would you be interested in having the Dupain-Cheng bakery host the next episode of Botched Blind Date? It’ll be great advertising for you, I’ll pay for the food eaten on the set, and if it gets popular, I’ll give you a percentage of the royalties I make from the episode.”

Marinette glanced back toward Adrien. “Umm, sure! I’ll have to ask my parents, but I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. We could use some good advertising.”

“Thanks so much Marinette. Oh, and could I also get a couple more chocolate croissants?”

“Sure, of course!” 

As Marinette was getting the order, Nino turned around and gave Adrien a thumbs up. Adrien grinned.


	2. Alix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

Adrien suppressed his sigh and straightened up, messing with the buttons on his pressed polo shirt. When Nino had asked Adrien to be a part of the “awesome fun new YouTube series I’ll be directing,” he was not aware he signed up to make very strong rollerblading champions very angry. It was only the fourth episode he had filmed, but he was slightly regretting his decision to be a part of the show, thanks to the angry woman staring him down. Adrien glanced toward the counter, seeing Marinette watching him, her eyebrows creased, making her that much cuter. Okay, so maybe he didn’t regret his decision that much, but still, angry muscled lady.

Despite his strong sense of self-preservation, Adrien listened to the laughing Nino in his ear and leaned back in his chair, letting his fancy boat shoes hit Alix’s feet underneath the table. “I always thought girls who rollerbladed did it to get attention from guys.”

Maybe, if she walked out of the bakery now, he could save himself the pain—but no. Alix’s eyebrow raised, her hand forming a fist on the table. 

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, of course. No girl has ever been good at rollerblading, so why would they do it except to get attention from us?”

“Are you kidding me?” Alix’s was staring at him, open-mouthed. Adrien had to agree and wished he could say he was. But Nino spoke in his earpiece, telling him he was doing fantastic and to keep up the good work. Adrien was pretty sure he heard Nino eating popcorn. He glared at the nearest hidden camera. 

“Are you kidding me?” Adrien shot Alix a lazy grin. “Have you seen the outfits you girls wear? You’re practically begging for guys to ask you-” Before Adrien finished the sentence, Alix was leaning forward, her fist coming closer and closer and

Well, there went his perfect complexion. Oh, that was going to be a nasty bruise. The things he did for Nino.

Adrien’s head snapped up when he heard the screech of Alix’s chair. “I did that with muscles I earned from rollerblading for myself, not to catch the attention of a guy who doesn’t deserve me. Don’t ever contact me again.” Alix stood up and power-walked her way to the door. “I am going to have words with Kim about this ‘perfect’ date. Yeah right, he doesn’t even know how to respect women, the egotistical rich-”

“Run!” Adrien heard Nino shout in his earpiece. There were shouts of alarm, and Adrien smiled. This was perhaps his second favorite part of filming, hearing Nino dash like a madman to catch his date. “Adrien, make sure she doesn’t leave the sidewalk—dangit, who put this trash here, move!”

Adrien chuckled, then winced. He was going to need some ice soon for his jaw. Adrien glanced at the counter, catching Marinette’s worried expression. As soon as they made eye contact, she blushed. Perhaps he could prolong his favorite part of filming and ask her for ice after the show. It would make for a great conversation starter, as Adrien had to admit his previous ones hadn’t turned out very well. 

Nino shouted in his ear again, and Adrien blinked. Right, he had to finish filming first before he could flirt with Marinette. 

“Alix, Alix wait!” Adrien called after the women rushing her way down the sidewalk. 

She called back to him without breaking stride. “You have no right to talk to me. Get lost you loser!” 

“Seriously, hold up! You’ve been pranked by your friend Kim! You’re on the new YouTube show Botched Blind Date!” That finally stopped Alix in her tracks. She turned around.

“What?”

“Kim sends his regards,” Adrien explained. “Apparently he set this up to get you back for winning the time sprint. Whatever that means.”

She turned to Adrien. “I’m going to kill that boy. This was all a set-up?”

“Yeah, Kim gave us a list of your dating pet-peeves, and I played the embodiment of the worst date using them.”

“You really don’t think those things about rollerblading women, do you?”

“Absolutely not,” Adrien gave her a smile. “I fully support your profession, and if you ever go on another date with a guy who says those things to you, punch him twice as hard as you punched me.”

Alix laughed. “Will do. And sorry about the bruise.” 

Adrien waved her off, as Nino came out of the alleyway, panting. “I’ve suffered worse. Now, I’m going to get ice for this, but my friend here will explain everything.”

Nino removed his hands from his knees, straightening up to give Alix a handshake. “Nino, director of BBD. Congrats on surviving so long. Now, if you’ll come with me, I’ll give you your prize and reunite you with Kim, so you can kill him if you choose. He’s cowering in the bakery’s bathroom as we speak.” For the first time since the date started, Alix let out a wicked grin.

Adrien thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t on the receiving end of that. The punch was bad enough. He turned back and walked into the bakery, ready to request an ice pack. 

However, as soon as he pushed open the door, an ice pack was shoved onto his face. “Are you okay? I mean, of course you aren’t okay okay, that looked painful, but how are you feeling generally? You don’t need to go to the hospital, do you?” A pair of blue eyes peered up at Adrien as he took the ice pack and adjusted it so he could see her better. 

“I’m all right, thanks Marinette,” Adrien grinned, ignoring the sharp pain in his jaw. It was worth it to see the blush immediately color her cheeks. 

Finally, it was time for his favorite part of filming the show. 

Adrien sat down at the bakery’s counter as Marinette continued to look at his eye. “That was a rough one, am I right? I really took a hit for the team.” Adrien put his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. 

“You are injured, so I’m going to let that one go,” Marinette murmured, adjusting the ice pack on his face. There was no use in not noticing how close he was to Marinette. The effort to avoid blushing was just as fruitless. There was no way he was going to survive filming the rest of the episodes at this rate.

The door to the bakery opened, and Marinette jumped, causing the ice pack to shift into his eye.

“Oh!” Marinette yelped, immediately taking the ice pack off his face. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize, I--”

“Marinette,” Adrien grinned up at her. “It’s fine, really.” Marinette was still frowning, a step away from him. “No harm done, see? My eye’s as black as ever.” He winked at her, and still didn’t regret it when the movement caused shooting pain to erupt on his face. 

Marinette put a hand up to her mouth, holding in a smile.

Oh yes, definitely worth it. 

“Lovebirds,” Nino stated, slamming his tablet on the counter next to them. Adrien spluttered, leaning forward and almost slipping off the chair. Marinette’s hands flew up, throwing the ice pack halfway across the café. 

“Dudes,” Nino leveled a blank stare at the two. 

Adrien clutched a hand to his heart. “Your fault!” He hissed at Nino. 

“Sorry!” Marinette squeaked. “You just scared us, I wasn’t expecting you and then there you were and ah!” Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other. 

“New favorite way to greet you guys. Anyway,” Nino smirked, crossing his arms. “I just came over to thank you both for another wonderful day of filming. I’m impressed by how well it’s going. Alix is on her way with a seriously-worried-for-his-health Kim. She did appreciate the hockey tickets prize, and promised to watch the episode. So that’s at least one viewer. After spending tonight and early tomorrow editing, I’ll finally have enough to post it. I just need a few more shots of the bakery for the intro. Sound good?”

“Yeah, thanks so much Nino,” Marinette said. “I’m sure everyone will love it! 

“Let’s hope so. Gotta get into film school somehow.” The bell to announce a new customer rang, but all three of them ignored it, too focused on their own conversation.

“You’ll make it Nino,” Adrien reassured his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Thanks man. But yikes,” Nino winced, getting his first good look at Adrien’s eye. “Alix did do a number on you. You’re sure you don’t want some medical attention?”

“Nope!” Adrien’s eyes brightened. “Marinette took great care of me, it’s already starting to hurt less.”

“Mmm, hmm, I see that,” Nino gave A Look to Adrien. He pretended not to notice. “Well, I’m still sorry dude. Think it’ll heal by the next episode?”

Adrien touched his eye, only to pull back with a grimace. “If not, I’m sure we can just cover it with makeup. Anyway, we’re not going to be filming the next one for a while right? You’ve got to edit and stuff, then post them and wait to see if you have enough momentum to keep the show going?”

“Which you will,” Marinette reassured Nino, who had taken off his hat and began frantically running his fingers through his hair.

“Of course that’s true, cuz you’ve got this girl in all the episodes,” Came a new voice. She bypassed the line to pay, jumping up onto the counter and over into the bakery side, snatching a macaroon from the display case.

“Alya,” Marinette smiled at her best friend, pulling out another macaroon from the case. “Sorry, didn’t realize it was you earlier!”

“Jeez, girl, any reason why? Or just distracted?” Alya said, with a glance over to Adrien. Marinette coughed, and Alya grinned.

Adrien leaned on the counter, while Nino stood frozen in place, blinking at Alya. “I agree with you there. She is pretty amazing.”

“T-thanks,” Marinette spluttered out, both of them blushing.

Alya just laughed. “Oh, you lovebirds.”

“See, I’m not the only one,” Nino stated, waving a hand at the group.

Alya turned to him. “They’re always like this?”

“Yeah, it’s almost painful to watch.”

“You know,” Alya said, looking at Nino. “Perhaps we could discuss this topic over coffee sometime? And catch up, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you. It looks like we have both grown since then.” Alya looked him up and down.

Nino choked. “Yeah, yeah, that would be amazing.”

“Lovebirds!” Adrien and Marinette said at the same time, then high-fived.

Nino sent a glare to Adrien, who responded by smirking. “Anyway, we should probably be heading out. Got to prep for the radio show.”

“Radio show?” Marinette asked. “What are you guys doing?”

“I’m going on Nino’s radio show to advertise the YouTube series.” Adrien stated, grinning broadly. Marinette let out an inaudible “meep!” Alya shook her head.

“It’ll air right after the first episode goes live.” Nino rubbed his hands together. “Here’s hoping for a good reaction, or else all this was useless and my dreams will be crushed.”

“There, there.” Adrien patted Nino’s head. “Anyway, the radio show will be a blast, you should totally tune in.”

Marinette nodded three more times than was necessary. “O-of course!”

“We’ll make sure to,” Alya said.

“Sweet, thanks so much,” Nino looked at his phone. “Shoot, we’ve got to get going. Marinette, all the cameras are packed up, I’ll just grab a few more shots of the place here and we’ll stop bothering you.”

Marinette waved her hand. “Oh, you’re not a bother. It’s actually really fun having you guys here.”

“I really like yo-ah, I really like hanging out with you too!!” Nino jabbed his elbow into Adrien’s side, raising his eyebrows. Adrien looked down, looking like a bruised tomato. Alya just laughed.

He really wasn’t going to survive the rest of filming, much less an entire season. Adrien pretty much accepted the fact that his face was going to stay a permanent shade of red.

Nino had some common sense, so he dragged Adrien out of the bakery, snapping some photos as he went and yelling goodbye to Marinette and Alya, giving the latter girl a smile.

“Dude,” Nino said as soon as they were in the car on the way to the recording studio. “You’ve got to get yourself together.”

“I knoooow,” Adrien moaned, burying his head in his hands. “I’m hopeless!”

Nino patted his friend’s back. “Then I have good news for you. Marinette is also just as hopeless, so you two make a good pair.”

“Ninnnoooo, you can’t just say stuff like that! She doesn’t like me, she’s established that!”

“Just because she turned you down like a month ago doesn’t mean she still feels that way. She never said that she didn’t like you, just that she didn’t have time to date. Maybe her schedule has cleared up.”

“There were a lot of maybes in that sentence. I’m just going to play it cool, subtly flirt with her here and there, and try to keep from exploding with my love for her.”

“Are you even capable of playing it cool?”

“I can try.”

“And fail. I know you dude. I’ve got a better idea, why don’t I just ask Alya if she likes you when we get coffee together.”

Adrien shot up, his hair messy and eyes panicked. “You can’t do that!”

“This isn’t school Adrien. And I know this because I knew Marinette and Alya in school, and trust me, we’ve all grown since then. I know you were homeschooled and missed the wonder that was school us, but you’re an adult now and can take advantage of my connections without it being weird.”

“Ninnnnnnoooooooo.”

Nino let out a sigh. “I’m just going to text Alya and set up a double date.”

“No you can’t! That’s too much and, wait a second.” Adrien squinted his eyes at Nino. 

“What?” Nino looked at Adrien, Alya’s number already pulled up.

“Double date?”

Nino shrugged, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. “Well, yeah. Might as well get to spend some time with my crush in a date setting if I have to endure an awkward night between you and Marinette.”

“Nino! When did you get her number?” Adrien grinned.

“When she volunteered Marinette for the show. I put it in as a contact as soon as she gave it to me.”

“I’m so happy for you!” Adrien said, then tackled Nino in a hug. “You can marry Alya and I can marry Marinette and we can have a double wedding and live in a cute little apartment together and have ten million beautiful little babies and live happily ever after!”

“Woah, that’s a bit far in the future,” Nino chucked, but he was blushing pretty hardcore. “And ten million kids is a little much, don’t you think?”

“We can bump it down to nine million then.”

Nino laughed. “Let’s get the girls’ opinion on this before we set anything in stone.”

“Good plan,” Adrien nodded.

“Okay, so go text Marinette and tell her you want to have nine million kids with her.”

Adrien let out a screech, his eyes wide and mouth open. “I could never,” he whispered.

“Then let’s start with dinner, yeah?”

“Uhghnh,” Adrien said in reply as the car slowed to a stop outside the recording studio. Nino just shook his head. 

“What was that about you being hopeless again?”

…

Nino’s Radio Show!

Nino: “Hello Listeners! In case you are just joining in, you’re listening to the Turtle’s hour of DJing fun! I was just about to leak some news about my newest project. Well, it’s finally here! My new YouTube show, Botched Blind Date, is now live for you to watch. Here to explain the show’s premise is my good friend and the star of the show…we’ll call him…wait, dude, what do you want your DJ name to be?”

Adrien: “Oh, uh, Chat Noir?”

Nino: “All right, so meet my good friend and star of Botched Blind Date, Chat Noir!”

Adrien: “Hey guys!”

Nino: “You know they can’t actually see you wave, right?”

Adrien: “Yeah, but it just felt weird not to wave, you know?”

Nino: “Okay, man. So the show?”

Adrien: “Right! Well, basically what happens is people email us saying they want to get revenge or prank their friend. The person tells us the dating pet peeves of their friend, and we set their friend up on a blind date with me. I play the worst date ever, making sure to hit all of their pet peeves. If the friend makes it the whole date without walking out, they get a cash bonus along with their other, more personalized, prize. So basically, I act like a jerk for entertainment.”

Nino: “But don’t worry everyone, Chat Noir isn’t actually a jerk in real life. He’s about the nicest guy I know. Chat Noir, tell the audience what you do for a living?”

Adrien: “Oh, I’m the executive manager for Agreste Nonprofits. We help give clothes to kids who need them.”

Nino: “See what I mean? And Chat Noir, in case any listeners out there are worried about what you look like if you are going on a blind date with their friend, why don’t you say what you used to do?”

Adrien: “I used to model. Internationally. But not anymore. Instead I run a nonprofit and help my friend complete all his crazy ideas. But at least the Turtle feeds me pastries.”

Nino: “See, aren’t I such a good friend, listeners? Anyway, if you don’t mind helping a DJ fulfill his dreams of directing, go on YouTube and watch an episode or two. Leave a comment, tell us what you like, what you don’t. We’re still in the process of filming, so if you know of someone you want to be on the show, just email thecooldjturtle@gmail.com and we’ll help you give your friend the prank of a lifetime!”


	3. Theo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“My dude! Dude dude dude dude dude!” Nino shouted into Adrien’s ear. “Look at the viewers! A million! A MILLION! My inbox is flooded, flooded, with requests! I can’t believe this! This is the best day of my life. I think I’m going to cry.”

Adrien smirked, holding the phone up to his ear as he took a sip of his coffee. “Did I not tell you it was going to make you famous?”

“You did but, like dude, this is incredible. Incredible. How fast can you come to my place so we can start sorting out these requests?”

“Ringing the doorbell to your apartment complex now.”

“You’re the best, thank you, buzzing you in now, talk to you soon.”

Adrien chuckled to himself. It had been a long time since he had seen Nino so hyped up, and it was a pretty cool site to witness. To be fair, a million views was quite a lot. Adrien couldn’t believe that many people had seen him get slapped in the face.

Nino opened the door before Adrien could even knock, spreading his arms open wide. “Adrien! My best bro! Give me a hug, we’re famous!” Nino threw his arms around Adrien.

“I know!” Adrien grinned, hugging his friend back before Nino stepped away.

“But we’ve got work to do.”

“I know. Exactly how many submissions for new episodes have we gotten?”Adrien followed Nino as he slid across the floor in his socks.

“At least a couple hundred, but I’m only halfway through the inbox.”

“Woah that’s—“

“Awesome!”

“Intimidating. How in the world are we going to get to them all?” Adrien asked, joining Nino on the couch and setting his coffee down.

“Well, I’m eliminating the spam, or any requests that just seem like jokes or people living too far away. I guess we’ll just narrow it down by how we feel later?”

Adrien nodded, peering at the long list of emails on Nino’s computer. “All right, let’s get to it. Thank the stars I got myself some coffee this morning.”

It only took a few minutes of searching for Adrien to realize a problem.

“Hey, Nino? What are we going to do about the dates where we need a girl actor?”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Nino placed a hand on his headphones, shifting them around on his neck. “I was going to ask you about that. You know any girls who would be willing to do this, and have enough free time? Excluding Marinette, because she’s already waitressing, and I’m fairly certain Alya would say no.”

“Well, I do know one…”

“Adrien, don’t even say—“

“Chloe,” The two said at the same time. Nino sighed.

“She may be uh, prickly at times, but she isn’t working, so she would have time to do this. She’s an excellent liar, she loves being annoying to people and being on camera. Plus, she has an extensive wardrobe, so we wouldn’t have to buy any clothes for the episodes. She’s practically perfect.”

“I don’t know man,” Nino rubbed the part of his nose where his glasses rested. “She kind of hates me. Also, she’s scary.”

“C’mon, let’s give her a test run, like you did with the Dupain-Cheng bakery. You saw how well that turned out!”

“Yeah, but Marinette and Chloe are two different stories. But if there’s no other option,” Nino sighed.

“There’s really not,” Adrien reminded his friend. “Unless you want to ask a random stranger to do it? Or ask another former classmate that you haven’t kept in contact with?”

“Okay, call her up and ask her to meet us at the bakery tomorrow, see if she’s even interested. Then let’s find some poor soul who gets to go on a date with her for the test run.”

…

“Dude,” Nino turned toward Adrien, pushing up his glasses. “Do you think she’s going to show?”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be here,” Adrien reassured. “I promised her shoes for doing this.”

“Always a good motivator,” Marinette nodded, opening a new white tablecloth to spread over the bakery table to be used for the show. Adrien dropped the flower he was trimming and went to help Marinette spread the cloth over the table. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He grinned at her. “So, what kind of shoes would motivate Marinette?”

“High heels,” Marinette answered immediately.

Adrien raised his eyebrows, “Really?”

“Well,” Marinette’s cheeks were tinged red. “They look the best on the runway, you know? Adds another element of class to an outfit.”

“Marinette, I don’t think you need shoes to class up clothes. You can do that all by yourself, just by designing and wearing the them.” Then, because he had no self-control, Adrien winked. Or at least tried to. Instead, it looked like an over-exaggerated blink.

“W-what?” Marinette sputtered.

“Oh, I uh, didn’t mean to imply—that came out wrong, I’m sorry, I didn’t—“

“It’s fine! It’s fine!” Marinette waved her hands. “I was just uh caught off guard! Yeah!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Adrien, now also a blushing mess, tried to defend himself.

“I swear,” Nino muttered, watching the two interact. “This is just sad. For once, I actually want Chloe to interrupt a conversation.”

After a few more minutes of awkward stuttering between the two, Marinette ran back to the kitchens to make sure the food was getting ready.

“It’s okay,” Nino consoled his friend, patting him on the back.

“I’m hopeless.”

“Well,” Nino grinned at his friend. “You did just wink at a girl who rejected your offer of a date.”

“Why am I like this?”

“No idea,” Nino smirked. “No idea. But in other news, seriously, when will Chloe be here? If she doesn’t show up soon, we’ll have to have Marinette step in, which’ll make for a whole different episode.”

But Nino’s fears were for nothing, as several minutes later Chloe strutted into the bakery, pushing the double doors wide open. She approached Nino and Adrien.

“So, what do you losers want me to do?”

“Chlo,” Adrien sighed. 

“Fine, I guess you aren’t losers if you’re going to get a million people viewing my acting on YouTube.”

“Once again,” Nino held up a hand. “No promises it’ll be a million views, but—“

Chloe held up her hand, “Please, I’ve seen the past episodes. You’ll get a million views.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Plus I’ll be in it, so that’ll get you at least another million. Regardless, what exactly am I supposed to do? You weren’t very descriptive on the phone.”

“Okay,” Nino said, consulting his tablet. “You’ll be the date of Theo. Basically, you just have to annoy the crap out of him, mainly utilizing his three pet peeves given to us by his ex-girlfriend.”

“And those are?” Chloe asked, examining her nails.

“One, people who don’t appreciate his work. Tear down his art whenever you can. Number two, dates who are late. Which means you’ll be walking into the date ten minutes after it was supposed to start. And finally, number three, he hates it when girls flirt with other guys on the date, as anyone should. So we’re going to have Adrien pose as a server. At some point during the date, I’ll give you the signal to flirt with him.”

“Won’t be hard to do,” Chloe stated, winking at Adrien. He threw his hands up in the air.

“How come it looks so natural when she does it, yet when I try I look like a hippo with an eye infection!”

“Practice,” Chloe smiled, winking again. “And you can practice anytime you want on me Agreste.” She winked again. Then the two burst into laughter.

“Sorry,” Adrien gasped out at Nino’s drawn-together eyebrows. “We tried dating before, but it was disastrous.”

“Absolutely horrendous,” Chloe agreed. “Just the thought of it is hilarious.”

“Agreed,” Adrien stated.

“Oookay,” Nino stated, backing away. “Let’s go get into place for the show since, you know, Theo will be arriving in ten minutes.

“Right,” Chloe cracked her knuckles. “Time to get this started.”

…

Meanwhile, Marinette was frantically calling Alya.

“Alya! I’m not going to survive this, I’m just too in love with Adrien, I can’t handle it.”

“Oh girl, did I not tell you this was going to happen? You could have already been dating him by now.”

Marinette put her face in her hands, “I know, but I panicked! It’s too late now!”

“Is it?” Alya asked.

“Yes!” Marinette wailed. “It’s too awkward now!”

“C’mon girl,” Alya sighed. “It’s obvious he still likes you, you like him, and since all your applications for jobs have been sent out, you have lots of time on your hands. Just ask him out now, and everything will be fine. Trust me when I say he’ll immediately forgive you.”

“I don’t know Alya,” Marinette muttered. “I think about it, but whenever he’s near, I always get too nervous and don’t ask him.”

“Well, we can work with that! I’ll come over tomorrow, maybe we can work out a plan?”

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, that would be awesome. Thanks Al.”

“Of course, what else are friends for? See you later.” With that, Alya hung up. Marinette sighed, pulling her hair back, then headed out to the front to see when Nino wanted to start the show.

…

It was halfway through the date, and Nino, Adrien, and Marinette were cackling like mad men watching the live feed. 

“Chloe,” Adrien got out between fits of giggles. “Tell him that painting looks like the entirety of Paris sat on it.”

Marinette snorted, then covered her hand with her mouth. “That’s so mean!”

“Do you see the way he’s staring at Chloe? That dude deserves some lowering of the ego.”

The three watched as Theo’s face pinched inward at the insult. “Is it really that bad?” He took the phone back from Chloe, inspecting it. 

“Did I say the entirety of Paris? I meant the world.” Chloe leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and smirking at one of the hidden cameras.

“Doing great Chlo,” Adrien said. She winked at the camera in response. Adrien groaned.

…

Forty-five minutes into the date, Nino decided it was time to raise the stakes. He sent Adrien and Marinette out with desserts. 

“Your final course,” Marinette announced, holding up the two plates of cake. “For the gentleman,” she said, placing the plate in front of Theo. He watched her the entire time.

“And for the lovely lady,” Adrien grinned, dimples and all, as he placed the cake in front of Chloe. “I hope you both enjoy.”

“You know, I was thinking I could go for something a bit…sweeter.” Chloe shot a look at Adrien. 

He smiled in response, picking up a pitcher of water and refilling Chloe’s water, using the opportunity to lean closer to her. “I’m sure we have something in the back that could satisfy your sweet tooth.”

“Oh, really?” Chloe raised her eyebrow, leaning her elbow on the table and getting closer to Adrien. 

“Promise,” he smirked back at her. 

Meanwhile, Theo was watching the whole encounter, his eyebrows drawn and mouth frowning. He turned toward Marinette.

“Say beautiful, think you could find something sweeter for me in the back as well?”

Marinette blinked. “Sorry, that double chocolate cake is about the sweetest thing you can find in this bakery.” In her ear, Nino snorted.

“Wasn’t talking about the cake sweetheart.”

Chloe’s and Adrien’s jaws dropped.

“Uhh,” Marinette’s gaze darted around the bakery. “I don’t, um, uh, no. No.”

“You sure sweet thing?”

“Pretty positive,” Marinette grimaced. 

Theo looked ready to say more, but then Adrien said, “Oops,” and proceeded to dump the entire ice-cold pitcher of water on Theo’s lap.

“What the hell?!” Theo yelled. 

“Oops?” Adrien smiled.

“You just threw that pitcher of water on me!”

“I did not,” Adrien stated, folding his hands behind his back. “It slipped.” In his ear, Nino let out a good chuckle.

“Whatever, I’m outta here, not worth sticking around, that was the worst date ever,” Theo scoffed, throwing down some money before turning to the three. “I hope you all have a terrible evening.” With that, he walked straight out the door.

“Thank you,” Marinette said to Adrien.

“My pleasure,” he grinned back.

“That was so malicious,” Chloe put a hand on her heart. “I’m so proud Agreste. Now, don’t we have to catch him so we can tell him it was a prank?”

“Oh, right. Or we could not?” Adrien suggested.

Marinette placed a hand on his shoulder, heading to the door. “I agree, but it would totally mess up Nino’s show.”

“You’re right,” Adrien sighed. 

The three went outside, only to find Theo already debriefed by Nino.

“That was still the worst date of my life,” Theo pointed at the three using his newly won local art gallery tickets.

“Same can be said here,” Chloe stated. Theo scoffed, then walked off to everyone’s relief.

Nino ran up and hugged the three. “That was wonderful! Great material! We’re going to be famous! I love you all so much!”

Chloe extracted herself from the hug. “Does that include me?”

Nino grinned at Chloe for the first time in his life. “You were actually, like, really good.”

Chloe snorted. “Did you expect anything less?”

“The job’s yours if you want it.”

Chloe looked at her nails, pretending to think it over. She glanced up at Nino, Adrien, and Marinette. “That was a blast. Much better than just sitting at home and binge-watching Netflix. Count me in.”


	4. Lila

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“Should we do something?” Marinette asked as Adrien mouthed “Save me,” at the camera. 

“But, what?” Nino pointed at the screen. Lila, the date of the episode, had been talking non-stop for fifteen minutes. “I see what her friend meant when she said she was kind of crazy.”

“Will she ever quit?” Marinette stared at the screen. 

Nino let out a loud sigh. “We’re going to have to make her. Marinette, go out and take their order. Adrien,” Nino addressed his friend through the earpiece. “Once Marinette gives you the opening, run with it and don’t let Lila get another word in during the entire date.”

Adrien gave a gulp, then nodded at the nearest camera. Marinette readied her pen and notepad, then walked out, straightening her apron.

Nino spun around in his chair, focusing back on the live feed. He adjusted his ball cap, resisting the urge restart the habit of biting his nails. On screen, Marinette walked out, flipping up the paper on her notepad. Adrien took a gulp of water.

“You got this Marinette,” Nino muttered. “Remember that one time in school when you interrupted Chloe during her rant about the color yellow? Yeah, channel that Marinette.”

Marinette gave a small nod to the nearest camera. Nino let out a breath of air as Lila continued to chatter on, happy as can be. “You’ve got this.”

Marinette walked up to the table, clearing her throat. Lila had just taken a drink of water when Marinette swooped in. “Hello, may I please get your order?”

“Oh yeah,” Lila stated, setting down her glass of water. “I would absolutely love one of your famous chocolate croissants. A side of strawberries as well, as I always think strawberries are the perfect complement to chocolate, don’t you think?”

Marinette took the brief pause to say, “And for you, sir?” Adrien looked up at her with grateful eyes. 

“He’ll take a chocolate croissant, isn’t that right sweetie?” Lila answered. “Trust me, I have excellent taste in food, you won’t be disappointed.”

Marinette turned back to Adrien. “Is that really what you want?”

“Of course, I just said—“

“Actually,” Adrien said, slamming his menu shut as he interrupted Lila. “I’ll take the macaroon variety pack. You know, chocolate isn’t really my thing and I think strawberries are totally overrated. Like, they really aren’t as sweet as everyone makes them out to be. Whenever I eat them, I need to bathe them in sugar. Well,” Adrien gave a little chuckle, resting his elbows on the table. “Everything’s better with sugar, so that makes sense. Oh, you know what’s really good? Sugar glazed peanuts. Do you have those here?”

“Uh, no, sorry, we don’t,” Marinette gave Adrien a small smile, and he grinned in reply. Lila’s eyes were wide, her lips slightly apart in shock.

“Oh well, that’s okay then. There’s this really good candy place a couple blocks from here, maybe we could go there sometime.” Adrien gave a nod to Lila, and she made to speak again, but he cut her off. Adrien straightened in his chair, his eyes bright. “Man, do I love candy. All of it is good, besides chocolate, because too much of that stuff upsets my stomach. But I’m talking gummy bears, hard candy, candy bars, all of it is amazing. Did you know…” Adrien continued talking, waving his arms and generally not letting Lila get a word in.

Marinette made her leave, returning a few minutes later with the desserts, where Adrien thanked her but still didn’t let Lila speak. 

Nino was laughing as he watched the scene play out. “Keep it going my dude. Her face is priceless!”

The longer the date went on, the more annoyed Lila got and the funnier her reactions became. Nino figured he would edit out most of the actual talking, instead having a reel of her best faces, a time counter on the side, and overlay Adrien’s nonstop chatter.

Lila did make it through the entire date, however, as Adrien kept up such a steady stream of conversation that she lasted the entire date, too polite to actually just get up and leave.

“Well,” Adrien ended a completely fabricated tale of the time he went skydiving. “That was a lovely date, perhaps we could see each other again soon?”

He paused, waiting for Lila to respond.

“I don’t think so,” she ended up going with. She grabbed her purse and stood up. “Never have I ever met a guy with so much…energy. I don’t think you are my type, I prefer listeners.” She shot him a look, and Adrien shrugged.

“Well, that’s probably for the best, as I’m an actor, those are cameras, and you are on the YouTube show Botched Blind Date!”

“Adrien!” Nino scolded as he quickly got up from his chair and started running to the front of the bakery. “That’s my line!”

“I’m on what?” Lila looked around wildly. “TV? Thank goodness I did my hair and makeup this morning.”

“YouTube, actually,” Adrien corrected. “Congrats on lasting the entire date! As a reward, you get a monetary prize as well as a gift card to your favorite online shopping store.”

“Seriously?” Lila looked at Adrien.

“Yup,” Just then, the door to the shop rang and Nino bolted in, breathing heavily. “And here’s the director of the show, he can finish telling you about the show and answer any questions you may have.”

Adrien placed a hand on Lila’s back, ushering her over to Nino. He then made a quick exit for himself, moving over to the ordering counter, where Marinette was shuffling the desserts in the display case.

“I’m never going to speak again,” Adrien moaned as he laid his head on the ordering counter. Marinette giggled. She set down a glass of water next to his head, and he quickly shot up, gulping it all down.

“I’m pretty impressed actually, how long you were able to keep that going.”

“Me too,” Adrien responded as he set the empty glass down. “Lila looked so angry.”

“I know,” Marinette smiled, refilling the glass. “It was pretty hilarious.”

“I need a nap.”

“You look like it. How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Not enough,” Adrien responded after taking another gulp of water. “Was up last night preparing for Agreste Nonprofit’s big fundraiser.”

“Oh? What are you doing?”

“It’s called Pancakes, Puppies, and Pajamas. It’s targeted toward kids from rich parents, like I was. The parents pay a fee, which we will donate to charity, and in return we will babysit their kids for the night. We’re serving pancakes and getting a bunch of puppies from local animal shelters for kids to play with. It’s a way to get kids adopting pets and let them have some interactions with other kids their age. I would have loved to do this when I was younger, so I figured I might as well give those kids what I couldn’t have.”

“Aw,” Marinette stated. “That sounds adorable. What a wonderful idea.”

“Thanks,” Adrien beamed. “I voted for cats instead of puppies, but the board thought the name didn’t have the same ring to it, so I was outvoted.” Marinette laughed, and the two fell into an easy silence.

“You know, for someone who said they were never going to speak again, you sure are talking to me a lot.”

Adrien looked Marinette in the eyes, then instantly regretted it as he felt his entire body blush. “I’ll always want to talk with you.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, looking down and blushing.

“I ah—”Adrien thought about trying to explain it away, but then realized it was pointless and decided to change the subject instead. “Anyway, I should probably go, help Nino clean up and everything.”

“Oh, okay, well, have a good day then!” Marinette waved goodbye, and Adrien felt his heart beat faster.

He really was in deep.


	5. Nathaniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“He looks like a tomato,” Chloe stated, crossing her arms. “It’s a bit concerning.”

“Got to give him credit though,” Marinette said, twisting Chloe’s hair into a braid. “He did arrive fifteen minutes early. It shows good character.”

“My God, he arrived fifteen minutes early,” Nino said frantically, running a hand down his face. “I was not prepared for this, nothing’s set up yet, Chloe isn’t even ready, and I’m missing a camera angle!”

“Nino. Nino, chill. It’s okay,” Adrien consoled his best friend. “Listen, it was his choice to get here early. Chloe isn’t obligated to be there for at least another ten minutes. You’ve already got four camera shots on him, I’m sure that’s plenty.”

“Right, right,” Nino nodded, but he still gripped his tablet. “I need to check the audio though, get it adjusted.”

Marinette finished up with Chloe’s hair, sticking a few bobby pins in to make sure everything was secure. “Here Nino, why don’t I go out and ask him if he needs anything? That way you’ll be able to adjust the audio with someone speaking.”

Nino looked at her with large eyes. “This is why you’re the best.” Nino handed her the ordering notepad, and out into the bakery she went. Adrien sent a betrayed look to Nino. “Behind my best bro,” Nino amended. Adrien nodded, satisfied.

As Marinette approached the target of the episode, she noticed he was drawing on some of the napkins on the table. “Hello!” She greeted him.

The boy jumped a bit, looking up at her with wide eyes. “Um, hi. Are, are you Chloe?”

“Oh, no,” Marinette gave a little giggle. The boy blushed. “I’m just your waitress, Marinette.”

“Well, uh hi,” The guy said, giving her a little wave and smiling. “Sorry about that, guess I’m just a little nervous about my blind date and you were pretty and I’m going to stop talking now.” The boy inclined his head forward, letting his hair fall in his face.

Marinette gave a laugh, her cheeks a tinge of pink. “It’s okay…”

“Nathaniel,” The boy supplied.

“Well, nice to meet you Nathaniel, and I hope your date goes well. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you to drink?”

“Uh, water would be nice, thank you.” With that, Marinette nodded and left.

In the back, Nino gave a snort of laughter. Now was he really glad the cameras were still filming, as that was a pretty wonderful interaction. He might just have to include it in the episode.

“Dude, what’s up?” Adrien asked as he helped Chloe into her jacket.

“I think our boy Nathaniel has the beginnings of a crush on Marinette.”

Adrien’s hands froze. “W-what?”

Chloe turned around, taking one look at Adrien’s face, then burst out laughing. “You look like a lost puppy. This is sad Adrien, really.” Chloe patted the side of Adrien’s face. He didn’t move.

“You’re ridiculous. Get a hold of yourself. She’s not yours yet,” Nino pronounced, then turned toward Chloe, consulting his tablet. “Your annoying habits for this date: he likes to draw comics, so any time you can mess up or bash comics, that would be wonderful. Also, see how many times you can insert the word ‘tomato’ into the conversation. Apparently, it’s a touchy subject. Also, try to be as vain and annoying as possible.”

Chloe flipped her braid behind her shoulder. “Should be easy.” Nino snorted. On screen, Marinette returned with the water.

“Guys,” Nino turned to his crew, “It’s show time. You’ve got this.”

“Yeah we do,” Chloe lifted her chin in the air, then exited the back door to travel through the alley and get to the front of the store.

“Earth to Adrien,” Nino smirked as he ran his hand in front of his friend’s face.

“If he dates Marinette I can’t date her,” Adrien said.

“Stellar observation there,” Nino deadpanned. “All the more reason just to ask her out again right now.”

“But I can’t!” Adrien smacked his hands on either side of his face.

“Can’t what?” Marinette asked, coming back into the room.

“Shit!”

“What?” Marinette asked, blushing scarlet.

“I ahaha, am having trouble going to the bathroom. I was just telling Nino about my stomach troubles! That’s all!”

“Oh, well, I’m uh, sorry?”

“It’s okay,” Adrien stated, rubbing his hand on his very red neck. “You know, it happens.”

“Yeah,” Marinette stated, not making eye contact with him, for which Adrien was grateful.

Nino heaved a sigh, spinning around in his chair to face his camera feeds. “Hopeless, all of you. Now c’mon, it’s time to concentrate on the show.”

…

“Poor Nathaniel,” Marinette murmured, watching as Chloe once again called Hulk Bruce Wayne. “Look at him, he’s all sunken into himself and sad.”

“Who knew someone could be that invested in something,” Adrien asked, crossing his arms.

“Adrien, need I remind you of anime.”

At Nino’s words, Adrien froze. “I told you never to mention that in front of pretty girls!” he hissed.

“I don’t mind the occasional comic book or anime myself,” Marinette mused, retying her ponytail. “Ouran Academy Host Club is pretty wonderful, a good thing to watch to destress.”

Nino could practically see the hearts forming above Adrien’s head.

“I completely agree!” Adrien breathed out.

“What have I done,” Nino muttered as the two proceeded to go into a fifteen-minute discussion of the show.

…

“So,” Adrien said, coming over to join Nino at the camera feeds, his face glowing. “How’s the date going?”

“Horrendous. It’s beautiful. Look,” Nino pointed to a camera directly focused on Nathaniel's frowning face. “Chloe just told him comic books aren’t a true form of art.”

“Ouch,” Adrien winced. “You’re going brutal this round.”

“Hey,” Nino held up his hands. “That was all her, not me.”

“That I’ll believe,” Adrien said, leaning in closer to view the live feed. “So what’s the plan now? Going to have a big deal breaker thing five minutes before the date ends again? You’ve only got a few minutes left.”

“Of course,” Nino hummed, once again consulting his tablet. “Thanks for reminding me. Time to set it into motion. Chloe,” Nino spoke louder, directing his voice into his microphone. “Let’s make this guy regret throwing my schedule off by arriving early. Time to enact Operation Tomato.”

“Operation Tomato?” Adrien questioned. Nino gave him a big grin. 

“Just watch,” Nino said, rubbing his hands together.

Adrien’s brows furrowed. “I’m getting worried.”

“Nonsense, it’s all fun. Marinette, bring out the dessert.”

“Nino, what did you do?”

Adrien’s question was answered when Marinette walked out onscreen, carrying a large cake in the shape of a tomato. Adrien bit back a laugh. However, when he saw Nathaniel's stunned expression, no amount of biting his lip could contain his laughter.

“Nino, this is so mean!”

“But funny,” Nino laughed. Onscreen, Marinette set down the cake right in front of Nathaniel.

“Well, would you look at that,” Chloe drawled. “You’re as red as the cake I had made for you! How adorkable!” Chloe then leaned forward and pinched Nathaniel's cheeks.

He looked stunned. “I, ah—what, I don’t, why did you, um,” he trailed off, looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Finally, his eyes landed on Marinette, imploring her to help him. Marinette gave him a sad smile. When Nathaniel's eyes landed back on the cake, she sent a glare to the nearest camera.

“Noted,” Nino said. “But you’re doing great, this is amazing. Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon.”

Nathaniel looked at the cake hesitantly, not even picking up his fork. Chloe, however, had no qualms about such things. She reached over the table and took a big chuck out of the cake with her fork.

“I ordered this because tomatoes are my favorite food, you know,” Chloe pointed to Nathanial with another forkful of cake. “You should really eat some, it’s super good.”

“Oh, uh, I’m really not a fan of tomatoes,” Nathaniel commented, giving one last pleading glance to Marinette. She gave him a one-shoulder shrug and sorry smile, then made her leave, clearing away their dirty plates.

“Shame,” Chloe responded, eating yet another forkful of cake. “They’re amazing. As is this cake.”

Nathaniel glanced at the door, “You know, since I’m not a fan of tomatoes, I’ll just let you go, I really should be going, you know, I’ve got work tomorrow, it was nice meeting you, goodbye.” With that, Nathanial just missed tripping on the chair as he exited, bumbling his way to the door. 

“Did he make it?” Chloe hissed to the nearest camera.

“Wow Chloe, do you actually care?” Nino spoke in her ear.

“No, I just was thinking that it would be a shame for a starving artist to lose the chance to gain some money just because of a tomato.”

“Okay, whatever you say Chloe.” There was a loud crash and cursing on Nino’s end of the line. “But yes, he did make it.”

“Good,” Chloe stated, inspecting her nails once more and then heading to the outside of the store, where Nino, Nathaniel, Adrien, and Marinette were already congregated. Nino had just finished giving Nathaniel the reveal spiel. He looked around the group in amazement.

“That…is a brilliant idea.” He rubbed his hands down his face. “I’m sure I looked like such an idiot.”

“Nonsense,” Chloe started, coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, you were the nicest guy I’ve fake dated so far, you were just fine.”

“Really?”

“Truly,” Marinette responded, giving Nathaniel a kind smile. “I’m sorry for everything you had to go through.”

“Oh, no, it’s actually pretty funny, looking back on it. And the new art supplies are a huge surprise as well, thank you all.”

“Thank you for making it such a good episode!” Nino clapped his hands together.

“And thanks Marinette, for being such a kind waitress.” Nathaniel looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

“N-no problem,” Marinette responded, giving a quick glance to Adrien then staring at her feet.

“I’ll have to stop in the bakery sometime then, try an actual dessert?”

“Yes, that sounds like a plan!” Marinette smiled at him as he walked off.

As Nino and Adrien headed back into the store, Adrien whispered to Nino, “It’s official, I’m never leaving the bakery.

“Dude,” Nino chuckled, placing his arm around Adrien’s shoulders. “How about we discuss this plan of yours while we edit and eat some Dupain-Cheng bakery croissants? And perhaps also discuss your stomach issues while we’re at it?”

“Ninnnooo,” Adrien groaned.


	6. Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“Okay,” Alya said, setting her elbows on the bakery’s ordering counter. “Are you ready for this episode?”

“No,” Adrien stated, slouching back behind the counter.

“Really?” Alya quirked an eyebrow. “Any reason in particular?”

“Well, I can’t believe Marinette and her parents went on vacation this weekend and left the bakery in the care of us. It just doesn’t seem right, this place feels like it’s missing a large part of it.”

“Mmm, hmm,” Alya hummed. “Are you sure it just isn’t you who’s missing someone?”

Adrien choked, inhaling a deep breath of air. “What has Nino told you?”

Alya waved her hand. “Just the basics, but believe me, I could have figured it out all by myself.”

“TRAITOR,” Adrien yelled into the back, where a faint chuckle was heard in reply. Adrien turned back to Alya, sulking.

“Be careful. Remember I’m the one with a key to this place, and the only one who knows where everything is. Including those chocolate croissants Marinette made for this episode.

“Noted,” Adrien nodded, glancing around at the deserted bakery. “So, do you know when she’ll be back?”

“This evening.”

“Oh, oh cool.” Adrien said, nodding two more times than was necessary. “Probably late right? Cuz’ I have Pancakes, Puppies, and Pajamas going on tonight, but it’ll probably start before she gets back.”

Adrien was saved from Alya’s questioning gaze, because at that moment, Nino made his way to the front, frantically scrolling through his tablet. “Okay, Alya you’ve got cashier duties, Adrien you’ll be the waiter, Chloe, you’ll—” Nino stopped, pushing up his glasses and looking around. “Where is Chloe?”

Adrien checked his phone, “She’ll be here soon, she’s on her way.”

“Of course she is. Okay, regardless, you guys okay with your jobs?”

The two nodded, and Nino kept going, “Okay, remember that since the bakery is all ours and due to the impressive amount of requests we have, I tried to fit as many episodes today in as possible. As soon as one episode ends, we’ll have fifteen minutes to set it up for the next one.” Nino continued talking, laying out the plan for the day. Shortly enough, Chloe arrived.

She didn’t look up from her phone as she said, “Sorry I’m late, was at an art show.”

“Art show?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah, Nathaniel was showing a couple pieces at a gallery.”

“Wait, that guy from a couple episodes ago?”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe said, still typing on her phone.

“How did you find this out? And why did you choose to go?” Adrien stared at her.

Chloe looked up, shrugging off his questions. “I saw an ad about it online, thought I’d support him. He’s actually a really good artist. He gave me his number.”

“Strange,” Adrien murmured.

“Anyway guys, we’ve got an episode to pull off,” Nino began before rattling off the target and other assorted info. The three exchanged glances as Nino kept going, checking that all the equipment was in line, before he finally realized the time and rushed everyone to their places.

…

“I feel so bad,” Nino stated.

“You’re the one who wanted her on the show!” Adrien addressed his friend, both of them avidly watching the camera feeds.

“She’s too nice for this,” Nino commented, as he watched the tears form in Rose’s eyes. “Who nominated her for this?”

“A cruel person,” Adrien agreed, watching as Chloe bashed the idea of true love once again. Rose looked too sad to even counter her anymore.

When Rose reached down to dab her eyes with her napkin, Chloe took the moment to shoot a glare to the camera feed.

“Message received and felt by all back here,” Nino spoke into the microphone. “End the date whenever you want to, she’ll get the cash regardless. I feel too terrible.”

“Good plan,” Adrien nodded, patting his friend’s shoulder. The two watched on screen as Chloe broke character, pointed at all the cameras, offered her napkin as another tissue, and explained the premise of the show.

Nino and Adrien, as well as Alya, walked out to the front. “I am so sorry about that,” Nino apologized. “We didn’t mean to make you cry. Whoever put you up to this should be so ashamed of themselves.”

“Oh, I’m sure Mylene didn’t mean it like that.” Rose laughed, already back to her sunny self, armed with the knowledge that Chloe did indeed believe in true love. “She probably thought it was funny, and that it would help me get back into the dating scene. I guess I should just try online dating instead, huh?”

“Definitely,” Alya nodded. “You’re a great person Rose, I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

“Thank you,” Rose smiled, looking at the three.

“Of course,” Nino nodded. “Now, of course, there is the issue of your prize for participating. Even though you didn’t make it the entire time, you almost did, which is close enough, and we feel bad for making you cry, so you get the cash along with two tickets to opening day of the new tea garden downtown.”

Rose clapped her hands to her chest. “You really don’t have to!”

“I insist,” Nino said, all but shoving the prizes into her lap. He checked the time on his tablet. “Okay, it was great meeting you, I’m so sorry about what happened, but I’m sure it’ll all work out for you. I hate to rush this party, but we’re booked today, so if you could maybe exit so we can prepare for the next date?”

“Of course, of course!” Rose said, getting up and clutching her prizes to her chest. She made her way out of the bakery, her back to the door. “Thank you so much! I can’t wait to see this air, and I won’t give up on—oof!” Everyone was too stunned to warn Rose as she ran into the next customer coming into the door.

Luckily, the crew didn’t have to say anything, as the woman helped her pick up the dropped tickets, ensuring she was safely on her feet.

“Oh, sorry about that, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I’m a bit nervous, haven’t dated for a while, and I’ve got a blind date soon...” the woman stopped talking, looking Rose up and down. Rose’s cheeks flushed. The woman pushed her purple dyed bangs out of her line of sight. “You wouldn’t happen to be Chloe, would you?”

Rose sent a frantic look back at Nino, Alya, Adrien, and Chloe. They were all grinning, and Adrien gave her a thumbs up. Nino nodded, giving her the go-ahead, but not before checking the cameras were still rolling. What a cute ending this would make. He could always find another target to make up for the lost episode.

Rose giggled, linking her arms with the woman and turning back to enter the bakery. “Chloe’s my middle name actually, but you can call me Rose, everyone does.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Juleka.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you too Juleka. First, what’s your thought on true love?”

“It’s only the most powerful force in the universe.”

Rose beamed as the two sat down at a table. 

…

“Nino,” Adrien said into the phone. “I’ve got a major problem.”

Nino sighed on the other end of the phone. “Please tell me you didn’t decide to stuff an entire package of marshmallows into your mouth again?”

“No, no, it’s much more serious than that.”

“Dude, I literally had to take you to the hospital. You were choking and going to die.”

“This is serious Nino! There is an imminent chance of death!”

“I swear, if you set your apartment on fire again…”

“My favorite cat pajamas are ripped!” There Adrien was, resting on the couch after a long day of filming BBD, when he realized he should check to make sure his cat pajamas were clean. However, finding the clean pajamas only alerted him to the horrible reality that there was a rip in the buttocks area. That would not be acceptable.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Can’t you see how serious this is Nino! I have Pancakes, Puppies, and Pajamas tonight, and I have to wear my cat pajamas to forcibly state my feelings toward the matter of switching the cats to puppies! Nino, what am I going to doooooooooooo?”

“Could I have one night without you calling me about some inane thing?”

“Ninoooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

“I’m about to grab dinner with Alya right now! She’s walking toward me as we speak,” Nino whispered. “Can I call you back?”

“Ask Alya if she knows what to do about my problem.”

“I am not asking Alya that,” Nino hissed.

Adrien sniffed. “It’s an emergency!”

“It is not. Just wear your sweatpants and that t-shirt with the cats floating in spaceships on it.”

“Dude, that is not pajamas.”

“But it’s an okay alternative. Now, I really must go…oh, hello Alya! So sorry, Adrien’s on the phone, yes he’s fine but—“

“ALYA!” Adrien yelled into the phone. “PLEASE HELP ME!”

Nino gave another deep sigh. “No, he’s not really in trouble. The pajamas he must wear tonight have a hole in them and he doesn’t know how to fix it….What?”

There was some scuffling, then Alya’s voice came through the phone. “Call Marinette. She can fix anything fabric or sewing related, and she’s back from vacation.”

“Really? I don’t want to intrude…”

“Positive,” Alya stated. “She would love it. I’ll text her you’re heading over. Good luck with your event tonight! Her apartment is a few blocks from the bakery, I’ll send you the address.”

“Thank you!” Adrien breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing his pajamas and rushing out the door.

…

Marinette was not prepared to find a distressed Adrien on her doorstep ten minutes after she had arrived home. Her hair was piled on top of her head, strands of it flopping into her face. Her makeup was smudged from traveling, and she was wearing a baggy sweatshirt with leggings. Not appropriate attire for greeting your crush.

“Hello?” Marinette said, tilting her head to the side.

Adrien looked away, blushing and rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “H-hey Marinette. We missed you filming today. Did you just get back? Hope you had fun.”

“Thanks, I did.” Marinette curled her fingers around the edge of the door, leaning on them. “Yeah, I just came back about ten minutes ago. Would you, um, like to come in?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Adrien replied, walking in and shucking off his brown boots with the tiny toe scuff on them onto the welcome mat. He took a step further into the apartment, his socked toes curling into the carpet, a happy sigh coming from his lips as he looked around at her decorations.

Marinette just about died.

He stood there for a moment, and her mind went blank, staring at the grey sweater draping over his muscular arms and torso, his rolled up jeans just hitting the tops of his socks.

Marinette coughed. “So, uh, is everything okay?”

Adrien blinked, turning towards her. “Oh yeah, didn’t Alya text you about my problem?”

“Uh, my phone died right when I walked in the house. It’s charging and I haven’t checked it.” 

“Oh, well then, if you aren’t available or don’t want to, I can leave,” he took a step back, and Marinette had to resist the urge to grab his arm and pull him forward.

“No, no!” Marinette waved her hands. “I wasn’t doing anything anyway. What’s going on?”

Adrien held up the black bundle in his hand. “So I’ve got that Pancakes, Puppies, and Pajamas fundraising event tonight, and the pajamas I have to wear tonight have a gaping hole in them. Alya said you were the best seamstress, and I was wondering if you could help this guy out?”

“Of course, I would love to. Can I see the hole?” Adrien passed her the material, fighting a blush as she located the hole in the buttocks region. Marinette kept her eyes on the fabric. “It’s a tear on the seam, so it’ll be a quick fix. Here, let me get some supplies.”

She motioned him back to her workspace, otherwise known as her living room and bedroom. She passed her phone on its charger, glimpsing the missed warning messages and winky faces from Alya. Marinette grabbed some black thread and a needle as Adrien sat down next to her on the couch, his knees brushing hers. It took all of Marinette’s willpower to not miss the fabric and stab her hand with the needle.

“When’s the event start?” Marinette asked. Anything to keep her mind off the very attractive dorky model who had once asked her out and who was now sitting on her sofa, ‘accidently’ brushing her elbow.

“In about an hour. I should be there soon though, to help set up.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Adrien nodded. “I hope it’ll be a good time.”

“It will be,” Marinette stated as she continued to sew. “It’s a great idea, although it might be exhausting for you, trying to wrangle all those kids and puppies.”

“Oh, I’m sure some adults will be there. Probably the kids’ nannies. At least I hope.” Adrien looked off to the side, rubbing his hands together, his leg bouncing.

Marinette smiled, taking her gaze off the fabric and looking up at him. “You didn’t make sure?”

“I ah, may have forgotten that little detail.”

Marinette looked back down. “Sounds like you could use some help. You could probably call Nino or someone, right?”

“Yeah. Or…” Adrien trailed off, blushing, then tried again, the words coming out too fast. “You could help me?”

Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. “I-if you would want me to?”

“I would love it!” Adrien said, almost jumping out of his seat and grinning. “It’s a date! Oh, um, that is, if you would like it to be? I don’t want to push this on you or anything-“

He stopped talking when Marinette placed her hand on his. “It’s a date,” she smiled.


	7. Marinette 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

As it turned out, there were lots of adult volunteers and representatives from the animal shelters to help Adrien and Marinette wrangle all the children and puppies. The whole evening was pretty much chaos, but good chaos.

All the kids were settled down watching a movie, the puppies sleeping curled up next to some of the kids, other puppies still running around the room. Adrien let out a happy sigh, grabbing two water bottles and a couple leftover pancakes from the little kitchen adjacent to the large room. They were in a conference room at the Le Grand Paris hotel, a big room in the basement that hosted large parties. The hotel had generously donated the room to Agreste Nonprofits for the night.

Adrien returned to the main room with the water bottles, finding Marinette and sitting next to her on the floor. He mimicked her position, handing her a water bottle, and leaned back against the wall, stretching out his legs until they were almost brushing against hers.

“Thanks,” Marinette said, taking a large gulp of water and grabbing a pancake.

“No problem,” Adrien said, taking a swig of water for himself. “Thanks so much for coming, by the way. It’s been a lot of fun having you here.” He stuffed two small pancakes into his mouth.

“Well, this is a pretty awesome event to be a part of. The kids are all pretty wonderful, and whoever organized this is a genius.” Marinette smiled up at him, and he grinned.

“Really now? Well, I’m honored.” Adrien put a hand over his heart.

“I meant the board of directions. Didn’t they approve of all this?”

“I’m hurt, Marinette. Hurt.”

Marinette giggled, and Adrien had to resist the urge to propose to her right then and there.

He coughed, then causally leaned towards her, “So, you have any idea what this movie is about?”

“No idea,” she said, glancing up at the screen where a cartoon rooster was running around on the screen. “At least the kids seem to enjoy it.”

“Yeah,” Adrien nodded. “I’m glad the night’s working as well as it is. I was a bit worried the kids wouldn’t like it at all.”

“They love it Adrien,” Marinette looked him in the eyes. “You’ll have to do it again.”

He nodded, “Yeah, except next time with cats.”

Marinette laughed, tilting her head back. “Make it Cats, Cupcakes, and Kiddos?”

“Yes! Perfect Marinette! You’re amazing!” he exclaimed without thinking, then turned a deep red.

“T-thanks,” Marinette stuttered back. Adrien grinned sheepishly, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

“After that, we’ll have to do Ladybugs, Lasagna, and Little ones,” Adrien said, nodding at Marinette’s ladybug-spotted pajamas.

At that, Marinette snorted. Adrien thought she had never looked more attractive than she did in that moment. “I don’t think the kids would appreciate a lot of little bugs flying around everywhere.”

Adrien pretended to think about it, rubbing his chin. “Yeah, you’re right, that could be a bit of an issue. Especially if they started to get into the food.”

“It would be a travesty.”

“Indeed.”

Marinette and Adrien glanced at each other, and they both started laughing.

“Weirdo,” Marinette muttered, hitting Adrien in the arm with her elbow.

“Hey!” Adrien exclaimed, jostling her shoulder with his, putting them even closer. Neither seemed to mind.

“So,” Marinette started. “How did filming go today?”

“Great, I didn’t get punched in the eye today or yelled at, so all-in-all it was pretty good.”

“Anything interesting I missed?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure one of the targets fell in love with the girl who was supposed to be the target for the next episode. They sat in the bakery, then left together, holding hands.”

“Awww,” Marinette smiled. “That’s so romantic. Sorry I missed it.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien stated. “I bet the baking conference was super fun.”

“It was,” Marinette said, her eyes lightening up. “There was so much cool equipment there, much less the crazy good icing examples they had on display. They even had a whole series of cakes modeled after clothing, so that was pretty cool.”

“Woah, that’s impressive,” Adrien agreed. “Speaking of, how is your side fashion business going?”

“Good,” Marinette nodded. “I’m steadily getting more commissions, but it’s still not enough for me to actually make a living off of it, meaning I’ll still be working in the bakery for a while. Not that I mind it at all, it’s what I grew up doing.”

“Lucky, getting to live in a bakery all of your life.”

“Hey, you’re the lucky one, getting to live with the best fashion designer in all of Paris. I’m jealous.”

At that, Adrien frowned. “Really, don’t be. Living with the best fashion designer in Paris means that he really doesn’t get time off to spend time with his son. Trust me on this one, the bakery is a much better deal.”

Marinette’s eyes dropped into her lap. “Adrien, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Adrien waved her off. “It’s fine, really.” At Adrien’s look, he amended his statement. “Well, it’s not really fine, but I’m an adult now, with my own apartment and my own nonprofit charity service. I’m happy now, really.”

“That’s good,” Marinette nodded. They lapsed into silence for a bit, both of them thinking about things, too nervous to voice their questions to the other.

Finally, Adrien spoke. “So everything in your life seems to be going well, huh?”

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded. “For the most part. I got my online fashion commission sight up and running, finished applying for a bunch of fashion internships, my schedule is finally clearing up, and I’m part of the coolest YouTube show online right now.”

Adrien grinned at that. “It seems like you’ve got your life in order.”

“Yeah, except…” Marinette trailed off.

“What?” Adrien asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Well, with all my newly gained free time, thanks to the applications being done, I seem to find myself with a lot of extra time on my hands.”

“Oh?” Adrien raised his eyebrows, gulping. “And what are you going to do with all this time?”

Marinette shrugged. “I do seem to remember this foolish girl from a couple months ago who seemed to have no time to hang out with an attractive ex-model-turned-philanthropist who would maybe like to right a past wrong?”

A grin split Adrien’s face, and Marinette blushed. “Well, I think that woman would be in luck, because I just happen to know an ex-model-turned-philanthropist.”

“Do you now?”

“Yup. And I have to say, he’s pretty attractive too.” Because it was just too perfect, Adrien winked. Or once again, tried to. He ended up getting an eyelash stuck in his eye, and had to immediately rub it to get the offending pointy particle out of his eye.

Marinette laughed. “You really can’t wink, can you?”

Adrien groaned, his head hitting the wall behind him. “I’m working on it, okay!”

“It’s alright, I think it’s cute.”

Adrien beamed at her. “You truly are amazing, you know that right?”

“T-thanks,” Marinette stuttered out, blushing. “You’re pretty amazing too.” With that, Adrien felt his heart swell, convinced it was going to depart from his chest.

They settled into a comfortable silence, both of them watching the movie without paying attention to it. After a couple of minutes, Marinette leaned back a little, settling her head in the crook between Adrien’s neck and shoulder. He stopped breathing.

Almost instinctively, Adrien wrapped a hand around Marinette’s back, and she sighed, snuggling up against his side. Adrien swore he was never moving again, if that’s what it took to stay in this moment for the rest of his life. With the soft light from the projector, his stomach full of pancakes, and Marinette’s soft weight against his side, Adrien was pretty sure this was one of the happiest moments of his life.

…

After the movie was over, Adrien and Marinette reluctantly got up from their spot on the floor. They, along with all the other volunteers, helped to get all the puppies safely locked into their crates and the kids tucked into their sleeping bags on the floor. A divider was used to split the room into two, girls on one side, boys on the other.

Marinette waved goodnight to Adrien as he left for the boys’ side of the room, and he smiled, a real, lights-up-whole-face smile. As he rolled out his sleeping bag and climbed under the pieces of fabric, it was all Adrien could do to stop smiling long enough to fall into blissful sleep.


	8. Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

The next morning, after sending all the kids back to their homes and the unadopted puppies back to the shelters, Adrien and Marinette made their way to the bakery. Nino had texted the two, informing them that he had a last minute episode he wanted to film.

Adrien opened the door for Marinette. As soon as they stepped in, the bell above the door ringing, Nino started talking, eyes glued to his tablet.

“Adrien dude, how was the event? There was an article about it online, and it looked like a successful night, so congrats man. Our target will be here in five minutes, thanks for coming so early. Chloe’s already in the back, getting ready for the date. Hey, have you…” Nino trailed off as he looked up, spotting Marinette and Adrien together. His right eyebrow raised.

Adrien and Marinette smiled, glancing at each other. Adrien ran a hand through his hair, replying to Nino’s unasked question. “Marinette ended up coming and helping me with the event. It was really nice of her.”

“Uh-huh,” Nino responded. He coughed, “Lovebirds,” as he started typing on his tablet. Both Marinette and Adrien turned red. “Anyway,” Nino started walking to the back, and the two followed. “Marinette, your awesome parents have baked us some fresh goodies to serve during the episode. You two will be waiters. Our target is a guy named Max. He’s a friend of Rose, and she thought it would be funny to pay the favor forward.”

The group arrived in the back, where they found Chloe waiting for them. Her hair was done up in a braid, and there was a flip-phone in her hand.

“Is that…?” Adrien asked, pointing at the phone.

“Yeah. Had to buy one on eBay for really cheap. Max’s a total tech guy, so we needed to make Chloe the least tech-savvy person in Paris.”

Adrien snorted. Chloe turned to him, “I know, he’s making me part with my smartphone. It’s a travesty.”

“Sorry Chloe, but it’s a necessity if you want to continue filming this show,” Nino stated, messing with the headphones around his neck.

“Of course I do,” Chloe scoffed. “Did you know someone recognized me when I stopped for coffee this morning? Not as Chloe Bourgeois, but because I was on this show.”

“Really?” Marinette looked up at her, eyebrows raising.

“It was a pretty cool moment.”

“Chloe, you know you just made my day. Week. No, month, maybe even year,” Nino was grinning.

Chloe sniffed, “I know. Now, what are my other two objectives for this date? Aren’t we nearing time?”

“Right, right,” Nino said, looking back down at his tablet, scrolling a bit. “So Max. Be as distrustful in technology as possible. Also, tell him how lame you think video games are. He’s a big fan of Ultimate Mecha Strike III— “

“As he should be!” Adrien and Marinette interrupted at the same time.

“You’re a fan of UMS Three?” Adrien turned to Marinette, his eyes lighting up.

“Of course I am! I can’t believe you’re a fan!”

“Well duh, it’s only like the best video game ever!”

“Lovebirds,” Chloe snapped her fingers, and the two blushed as their attention shot to her.

“Not you too,” Adrien groaned.

Chloe continued, “As cute as you two are, we have five minutes until Max shows up, and Nino has yet to give me my final objective.”

“As I was saying,” Nino cleared his throat, grinning at Adrien and Marinette. “Max also hates cheaters. So Chloe, go all out with the school stories, telling him all the times you cheated to get to where you are now.”

“Well,” Chloe said, picking at her nail as the far off ding of a bell alerted the group to Max’s entrance. “This should be fun.”

…

“So you know that combo strike you can achieve on level 27? Save that till the very end of the fight, it will completely drain your resources.”

“No way! Okay, thanks, good to know. My resources normally run low anyway, so that could be a major disaster. Seriously, why can’t they put in more healing charms?”

“Okay you lovebirds,” Nino stated, spinning around in his chair to face the two. The date was in full swing, and Chloe was doing great. He could afford to look away for a bit. “This is weird. What happened between you two?”

“Uh, we found out each other played UMS Three?” Adrien ventured, a blush rising up.

“No,” Nino waved his hand. “Last night at the event. Why you guys are all…couple-y.”

Adrien choked.

Nino laughed, “Like I knew you two were in love with each other, but I didn’t think you two knew you both liked each other. At least, not to the extent that you are making gooey eyes at each other now.”

Marinette sputtered.

“So, are you going to tell me? Because I’m feeling a bit betrayed that my best bro declined to tell me anything, and yet Marinette told her best friend about the night.”

“Dude, I’m sorry, I was going to tell you after this, there just wasn’t time!”

“Hold on a second,” Marinette held up a hand. “How do you know what I told Alya? Because all I said was that I was at Pancakes, Puppies, and Pajamas with Adrien, but that was pretty late in the night. Did she text you?” Marinette tilted her head to the side.

Adrien smirked. “That dinner must have gone pretty long, huh?”

Nino coughed, hiding his face in his hands. “She and I may have, well, gone back to my place after dinner. To just watch a movie, that’s all, I swear.”

“Sure, sure,” Adrien grinned. He elbowed Marinette. “What a couple of lovebirds, huh?”

“Indeed,” Marinette giggled, giving him a fist bump.

“Hey, don’t turn this back on me! I’m the one questioning you!” Nino looked at them, panic on his face.

Adrien grinned, giving his friend a hug. “Hey, it’s totally cool. Maybe now we can actually go out on that double date!”

“Date?” Marinette squeaked, her face flaming red.

Adrien turned white. “Oh, haha, uhh, that is, if you would like to do that with me—I mean, go on dates with me?”

“Are-are you asking to date me?”

“I think so?”

“He most definitely is,” Nino mediated, looking between the two. “She’s going to say yes Adrien, stop being so nervous.”

“Are you really going to?” Adrien locked eyes with Marinette.

“Of course silly,” Marinette smiled at him. He beamed.

“Well, glad that’s settled,” Nino stated, brushing his hands off. “We can work out the details later, but maybe we should focus back on the episode? Looks like Chloe’s hit a slow point in the conversation. Let’s help her out.”

“Of course,” Adrien nodded and him and Marinette huddled around Nino and the computer.

…

Time seemed to fly by when Adrien was at Marinette’s side, helping her serve dishes to Max and Chloe, her winking at him across the room, brushing his hand when she passed.

It was truly wonderful.

In no time at all, Max had angrily stormed out once Chloe had refused to be persuaded to even so much as look at his smartphone. Adrien and Marinette made their way to the front just as Nino was handing Max a gift card to the best video game store in the city. He seemed much happier and promised to watch the episode as he left.

Nino turned back to his crew. “Thanks guys for everything. It was a great episode, can’t wait to edit it and post it. And I believe this belongs to you.” He handed Chloe back her phone.

“Thank the stars. I was beginning to worry it had forgotten about me,” Chloe immediately unlocked it, checking on all her social media feeds.

“By the way,” Nino said. “We’ve only got two episodes left, and I just wanted to thank you all for sticking with me for so long. With the response we’ve gotten for season one so far, season two looks like a real possibility, but I’ll have to think it over some more and discuss it with you guys before I make a final decision.”

“Makes sense,” Marinette nodded. “But I would totally be game for another season.”

“Heck yeah,” Chloe agreed. “This show is a blast.”

“Of course,” Adrien said.

Nino looked at the three of them, his eyes bringing to water. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” Adrien stated, slinging his arm around Nino’s back. “What else are friends for?”


	9. Sabrina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock!

“So,” Adrien said, setting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Gummi worms. Favorite place in Paris?”

“Eiffel Tower. Favorite kitchen utensil?”

“Mixer, obviously.” Adrien sighed, about to ask another question. He knew Nino told him that the target for the date didn’t like being questioned, but come on. Was this all the date was going to be? It felt like twenty questions on steroids. And the woman seemed a bit uncomfortable, but she was handling it just fine.

“Can I get you two anything else?”

Adrien jumped, breaking his eye contact with the target of the episode, Sabrina. “Marinette!” Adrien grinned. Her eyes widened.

Sabrina looked between the two. “You know each other?”

“Oh, ah,” Adrien grimaced, sending a sorry glance at the nearest camera. “She’s a friend.” At that, Marinette hid a laugh behind her hand.

“So, do you need anything else that I can get for you?”

“Oh, maybe,” Sabrina stated, looking back at her menu. Adrien sent an air kiss to Marinette, and she silently laughed, batting it away. Adrien gave her puppy dog eyes.

Sabrina looked up, and the two went ramrod straight, eyes fixed forward. “Can I please get a diet soda?”

“Of course, that’ll be right out,” Marinette said, then left. However, before she disappeared back into the kitchens, she looked back, sending one last smile to Adrien. He returned it.

…

Adrien swirled his empty glass around, making sure the ice cubes hit the side in the loudest way possible. He had just chugged his fourth glass of water in an attempt to have Marinette come out and refill it. As Sabrina chattered about her pet hamster, Adrien got in a particularly loud clink. He mentally gave himself a high-five.

“Dude, are you dehydrated or something? You should really cut back on the water consumption because after filming we’re heading to the radio station to do an interview about the show, and I don’t want to have to stop fifty times for you to pee.”

Adrien just smiled at one of the hidden camera, and shook the glass again for good measure. Nino sighed, and sent out Marinette. Adrien did a mental happy dance.

His leg bounced up and down until Marinette walked out from behind the counter, a pitcher of water in hand. He gave her a brilliant grin, at which time Nino let out a loud groan in his ear.

“Well-played, Adrien, well-played.”

“Do you need a refill?” Marinette asked him.

“Yes please,” Adrien replied as Sabrina fell silent. Marinette leaned next to him, a bit closer than normally appropriate for a server and a customer. His thoughts scattered, completely focused on how much distance separated them. It was agony not being able to wrap her up in a hug. Or kiss.

Stars, they could kiss now. Kissing was an acceptable thing for people dating to do. Had he thought about it? Sure, he had, but never in the realm of actually-very-possible. His face was hot, the blush radiating off his skin. He could kiss Marinette. He could kiss Marinette. He could kiss Marinette!

Adrien jolted at the sound of Nino speaking in his ear. “Hey, I know Marinette is there, but you’ve seen her many times today, so your face should lose some of the redness dude. It’s funny and I’m not surprised, but sorry man, you’re still on a date with another girl. Be cute and in love after, okay?”

Adrien coughed, leaning forward, which just put him closer to Marinette and didn’t help matters at all. “Gotcha,” he muttered, ignoring Sabrina’s questioning gaze.

Marinette finished filling up his drink, and Adrien inhaled, his face color not lessening a bit.

“Is there anything else you need?” Marinette asked, Adrien holding her attention. He was tempted to respond “A date with you,” but figured that would be inappropriate in the current situation. 

“Dessert?” Adrien went with instead, staring into Marinette’s eyes. Her grin widened, the corners of her eyes crinkling.

“I’m sure there’s something sweet in the back I can find for you.”

Adrien let out a laugh, then another one until he was on the verge of tears thanks to Marinette’s mockery of the Theo Disaster Date. Sabrina chuckled at Adrien’s outburst, but her eyebrows furrowed. Marinette laughed herself, then left, quickly coming back with a plate of chocolate croissants.

Adrien could hear Nino bang his head against the table through his earpiece.

…

This date was taking forever, Adrien thought as he sent another glance to the clock. Already ten minutes over when the date was supposed to end. Ten minutes that cut into his time of hanging out with Marinette.

Theoretically, he was allowed to end the date, but so far Nino had said nothing in his ear, and Adrien felt too bad to cut the woman off from her discussion of the newest trends in hats. It had been a bad date, of course, but it wasn’t absolutely terrible. He hadn’t gotten slapped yet, so that was a plus.

Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien saw Marinette approach the table once more. He leaned back, trying his very best to not grin like a fool as she came near. Adrien wasn’t sure how well he managed that, as Sabrina gave him a weird look. He blushed.

“Are you two all done?” Marinette asked, already reaching for Adrien’s plate.

“Thank you so much,” Sabrina said, pushing the plates toward Marinette. “So, how do you know Adrien again?”

Marinette fumbled, the plates almost slipping out of her grasp. “Oh, well, his best friend is dating my best friend, and you know, they hung out so we hung out too.”

“And Marinette’s just so awesome, I couldn’t help but get to know her,” Adrien said, placing his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, looking up at Marinette. “She’s such a cool person.”

“Dude, chill,” Nino hissed in his ear. Adrien almost let out an audible “oops,” before turning back to Sabrina. He sent her a smile that he was sure was half as bright as the one he sent Marinette.

Sabrina cleared her throat, looking away. “Yeah, you keep saying how amazing she is.”

“Do I?” Adrien looked up, a dopey grin on his face.

“Yeah man, you do,” Nino muttered.

“Sorry,” Adrien said to both. Marinette, meanwhile, had a small smile on her face.

“That was the most insincere apology I have ever heard,” Nino stated into Adrien’s ear. Adrien bit back a grin.

Sabrina took the napkin off on her lap, scooting back her chair. Adrien turned to her. She gave him a smile without teeth.

“I think it’s time I got going. Nice meeting you Adrien. Have a nice day,” Sabrina said, standing up. She shot a glance between Adrien and Marinette. “You too Marinette.”

“Thank you,” Marinette replied, her and Adrien watching as Sabrina grabbed her purse and exited the bakery. As soon as the door shut, Adrien exhaled. He got up and hugged Marinette.

She let out a surprised “oh!” but soon relaxed into the hug, wrapping her arms around his back.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the date started,” Adrien muttered in Marinette’s hair, and she chuckled.

“Well, at least you can give me a hug now.”

“Yeah, but it’s been so long since I last hugged you. I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms.”

Marinette laughed, swatting him away. “You’ll survive. Now, we’ve got to go say goodbye to Sabrina as usual. I’m assuming Nino’s already out there?”

“Yeah,” Adrien patted his earpiece. “Looks like he finally found out how to run down the alley without crashing into anything, as I didn’t hear cursing.”

“That’s good. It’s about time. This is what, the second to last episode?”

“Yeah, yeah it is.” Adrien paused their walk to the door, looking around at the bakery. “Hey, about that. We can come still visit you at work right, even if we aren’t filming an episode?”

Marinette’s smile slipped of her face, her eyes losing the laughter in them. “No. I won’t allow my boyfriend to visit me.”

Adrien wasn’t sure what caused the panic to form in his chest: the ‘no’ part of the reply or the ‘boyfriend’ part. Marinette grinned at the look on his face.

“Of course you can come visit me anytime silly!”

With one fear addressed, Adrien had to bring the other to light. “Boyfriend?”

Marinette blushed, looking away. “Boyfriend?” she asked back.

“Boyfriend,” Adrien stated firmly.

They walked out of the bakery hand-in-hand. Sabrina and Nino were there, and the two profusely apologized to Sabrina, who then apologized herself. Nino put a stop to the apologizes, telling them all that it made for a great episode. He gave Sabrina her monetary prize and a new purse Chloe had picked out.

After Sabrina had left, he turned on the two lovebirds. “Okay you two. As much as I love seeing you guys together, you’ve got to tone it down for next season, alright?” He pointed a finger at Adrien. “Don’t make me fire you.”

Adrien laughed, giving Nino a side hug. “I promise I’ll be better next season. Sorry about today.”

Nino waved him off, “Nah, it’s cool. It added a bit of excitement to the date. And anyway, I think half the viewers are watching the show now just to see you two interact.”

“That’s kinda weird,” Marinette said, frowning.

“It’s really not,” Nino replied. “You guys are cute.”

“Aw, thanks,” Adrien grinned at his best friend.

“No problem, but seriously, next season, I need the acting in full force.”

“Fair enough,” Adrien nodded, and the three went back into the bakery, already discussing possible ideas for next season.


	10. The Grand Finale!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Miraculous Big Bang 2017! Thank you to my super awesome responder who made a bunch of beautiful artwork for this fic, lesslinette. Here's a link to the artwork: http://lesslinette.tumblr.com/post/168560106227/botched-blind-dates-after-four-long-months-i and you should definitely say hi to lesslinette on tumblr! Also, much thanks to my beta Mac and etc and australianotaku, who helped me come up with ideas for the fic in the very beginning. All of you are wonderful and amazing people! Thanks also to the creators of MBB2k17. You guys rock! And thanks for reading this entire thing reader! You are also amazing!

Adrien slouched on Nino’s couch, his cat-printed socks covering his crossed feet on the coffee table. He had come over to Nino’s house after work, and proceeded to spend the next several hours editing the Sabrina BBD episode with Nino. Well, they took a couple breaks to play video games, but that didn’t count. 

Nino came and joined Adrien on the couch, soda can in hand. He turned to his friend, “So, are you ready for tonight’s episode?”

“What?”

Nino popped open the top of the can and took a sip. “Tonight’s episode. You ready?”

Adrien sat up. “I didn’t know we were filming tonight.”

Nino nodded, “Yeah, remember, I told you yesterday when you called me and asked for help making your Marinette and Adrien dream scrapbook. By the way, I still stand firm on the fact that the park near the house would make a terrible wedding venue.”

“You did no such thing. And it would make for a lovely summer wedding.” Adrien sniffed, and then stared at his friend. Nino coughed, hiding a grin in his jacket sleeve. He did a quick check on his phone, seeing the text from Alya telling him everything was ready on her side. Time to get going.

“Dude, I’ve already got everything lined up. Would you still be able to film tonight?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s just a bit weird, it being evening. Normally we film in the morning or afternoon.”

Nino shrugged. “It’s the last episode, got to make it special.”

“Right,” Adrien yawned, stretching his arms above his head. “I’m ready to go whenever, I guess.”

“Wait, you’ve got to get dressed first.”

Adrien groaned. “A dress-up date again?”

Nino chuckled. “Trust me dude, I think you’ll like this one.”

“Well, it can’t be worse than the lime green suit. Where is the outfit for tonight?”

“Hanging in the bathroom. Go get changed and we can head out.”

“Okay. Be back soon,” Adrien responded, making his way to the bathroom. He found a garment bag hanging on the shower curtain rod. He cautiously unzipped the bag, afraid of finding a bunch of glitter or sequins on the other side.

Instead, he pulled out a well-made black tuxedo suit. Adrien whistled. It must have cost Nino a fortune. He changed into the tuxedo pants and shirt, leaving the jacket for last. However, it was only when he pulled it on that he noticed the green paw print stitched on the inside pocket. His heart started beating faster as he reached into the pocket and pulled out a notecard. It read, “To my boyfriend, with love.” He swooned, clutching the wall to keep himself from falling down.

Nino was calming sitting on the couch, texting Alya that they would be there soon, when Adrien ran out of the bathroom dressed in the suit, waving the card around in the air.

“Nino! Marinette made this!”

“I know,” Nino grinned at his friend. “I asked her to.”

“You are the best!”

“Thanks Adrien. Now c’mon, we’ve got to get going or else we’ll be late.” The two left Nino’s apartment and started driving to the bakery, Adrien spewing how in love with Marinette he was the entire time. It look Adrien most of the ride there to realize what Marinette making that suit meant.

“You’re making me go on a date with another person wearing Marinette’s handmade suit?” Adrien looked out the window, crossing his arms. “Brutal.”

“I know,” Nino smirked, making a right turn. “I’m such a terrible friend.”

“Uh-huh,” Adrien sniffed, making both of them chuckle. “But seriously, what is going on with this episode? Don’t I get a debriefing?”

“Not on the grand finale. It’s a mystery.”

Adrien leaned his head back on the headrest. “Ninoooooooooo.”

“Yeah, yeah, all your questions will be answered soon enough.”

“It could be sooner if you just told me now?”

“No, that’s not how this works. We’re almost there anyway. You can hold out a bit longer.”

“Nino, have you met me?”

“That’s a fair point,” Nino conceded, pulling into the back alley of the bakery and parking the car. They got out, and Adrien made for the back delivery door, where they normally entered to reach the area where they monitored the episode.

“Wrong door Adrien,” Nino said. Adrien raised his eyebrows.

“What?”

“Go in the front door.”

“Why?”

“Dude, just go. Trust me.”

“Nino, what is going on?”

“Walk in the front door and you’ll see.” Nino grinned at Adrien’s face of annoyance. He still did as he was told, and Nino slipped in the normal back way.

As Adrien was walking down the alley to the front, making sure to bypass the piles of garbage, he noticed something unusual littering the ground. At first, it seemed they were just leaves or something, until he picked one up and found out they were rose petals. He swooned again, but immediately regretted it when his hand came back grimy from gripping the alley wall. His face scrunched in confusion, and he debated texting Nino and asking again what the stars was going on. However, he kept walking, figuring he would just get more answers following the plan Nino had concocted. 

The front of the bakery was dark, and Adrien debated knocking in case the door was locked. He abandoned the thought though, figuring Nino had thought of that detail. Adrien walked in, following the trail of rose petals to the inside of the bakery, where there was a table set up. It was lit by candlelight, and a plate with two chocolate croissants sat in the center of the table.

He followed the rose petals to one of the chairs and sat down, waiting for whatever surprise Nino had planned to appear. Adrien wiped his sweaty palms on the tablecloth. It was a few minutes more before he heard the click of high-heeled shoes walking towards him. He stood up, just in time for Marinette to appear out of the back.

“Marinette,” Adrien breathed.

“Adrien,” Marinette whispered back, both of their eyes wide. Marinette was wearing an original creation, a gorgeous black dress with red lace trim and black pumps. Alya had done her hair up in a braid, and her eyes sparkled with glittery eyeshadow.

“You look incredible,” Adrien said, still awe-struck.

“As do you,” Marinette smiled back. Adrien straightened.

“Well, I only had the best designer in all of Paris make my outfit.”

Marinette blushed. “I wouldn’t say the best…”

“Well, I would,” Adrien said, pulling out a chair for Marinette before sitting on his own.

“Thanks,” Marinette said.

“No problem,” Adrien replied. “So is this the last episode?”

Marinette nodded. “Great, right?”

“Amazing, more like it,” Adrien grinned. “You are my first and last date of the season. Pretty perfect if you ask me.” As Marinette looked down, placing the napkin over her lap, Adrien sent a grateful look to one of the hidden cameras.

Marinette picked up one of the chocolate croissants, and Adrien gave her a look. “What?” she asked.

“I thought those were both for me.”

She laughed, and Adrien’s whole face brightened. “There’s more in the back, you croissant hog.”

“That’s reassuring,” Adrien grinned.

“You know, Nino told me to limit you to eight croissants. He told me things get messy if you go over that limit.”

Adrien placed a hand over his heart. “How dare him! No such thing will happen!” Marinette said nothing, taking another bite of the croissant. “Okay, so maybe there were a few incidents.” Adrien grabbed Marinette’s hand across the table and she smiled, squeezing his hand. “But I promise just for you Marinette, I won’t disrupt our lovely evening by eating too many croissants and puking all over the windshield of your car.”

“Thank you Adrien, that means a lot. Glad to know you like me enough to not do that.”

“Of course. Anything for you.”

The two stared at each other, happiness and love written across their faces.

“You know,” Adrien said, leaning forward but not breaking eye contact. “I’ve been thinking that I happen to know an ex-model-turned-philanthropist who is finding himself desperately in love with a soon-to-be-famous fashion designer.”

Marinette’s breath hitched. “Do you now?”

“I do,” Adrien nodded, and Marinette leaned closer to him.

“Well, I think you’re in luck, because I just happen to know a fashion designer who is hopelessly falling for an ex-model-turned-philanthropist,” Marinette replied, her eyelashes almost brushing Adrien’s cheek.

“Do you now?” Adrien whispered.

“I do,” Marinette whispered back.

They both leaned a bit farther forward, not caring about the croissant crumbs now littering their clothes. It was a sweet kiss, tasting of chocolate and new beginnings and the promise of more kisses to come. They broke apart, simply smiling at each other before leaning forward again.

...

In the back control room, there was a soft clinking sound as Alya and Nino toasted their champagne glasses together.

“This was a great idea,” Nino said to Alya, taking a sip of the champagne and letting the bubbles disperse over his tongue.

“The whole show was a great idea,” Alya said in reply, taking a drink herself. “Not only did you make yourself and all of your friends internet famous, you also allowed our two friends to find each other and be happy together.”

Nino leaned back in his chair, glancing at the screen where Marinette and Adrien were once again talking, their faces flushed and eyes bright. His tablet lay unused in front of the screen. “Yeah, you’re right about that, but you are forgetting the best thing this YouTube show did.”

“What?”

“Reintroduced us.” He held up his glass, and they toasted again.

“Can’t disagree with you there,” Alya smiled, refilling her and Nino’s glass with champagne. “So, what are we to do now that we don’t have to secretly orchestrate ways to get our two lovesick friends to date each other?”

“Well,” Nino said. “I believe there have been rumors of double dates floating around.”

“Have there?” Alya raised an eyebrow.

Nino nodded. “There have.”

“I guess we will just have to make those rumors true then,” Alya smiled, and Nino felt his cheeks heat up with a blush. “But first, let’s enjoy this little date by ourselves while they have their own date.”

“Agreed,” Nino nodded. “The best two dates to ever come out of the show.”

THE END


End file.
